The time is right.
Over the past year I kept thinking "I can't top what I just did, there's no way." I was happy to be proven wrong. And while it was a truly great time and I had a blast filming the clips, once "they" got wise to my act- the fire went out. What's the point of going on when everyone is in on the joke? Are there probably tons and tons of people out there who have no idea what I was trying to do with the character of Ra's Al Cool? Probably. Could I continue making clips based on the completely bogus stuff I read online? Definitely.
I just think the time is right to step away. It started out as a total joke, you know? I read something online that I thought was total bullshit and laughed it off. I then wondered how the hell anyone could believe what these people were thinking and theorizing. I did a little bit of research, tried to find a rhythm, and hit record.
Here are some facts about Ra's:
- 98% of what I said in those videos is based on what I saw on numerous message boards (I won't name them, but they aren't difficult to find...)
- Everything was completely improvised. I never rehearsed and never really knew what I wanted to say until I hit record
- Most of them were recorded in 1 take, as I hardly ever re-shot anything
Look, I'm a writer and a director. I've been writing since I was 16 and I've directed a couple of super small personal projects, so this whole thing was an exercise for me: can I create a character that people can relate to? And the answer is "yes."
I want to give a massive Thank You to Bill Ramey, founder of the (greatest) Batman site, Batman-On-Film. Bill immediately understood what I was going for and started putting the videos on his site, which was insanely generous of him.
Look, in every bitchy, whining fanboy rests a Ra's Al Cool. Is it annoying? Definitely. But you know what? They're the gift that keeps on giving.
For those who liked the videos and "got it"- truly, Thank You.
